Liberty OTS to Independence OTS FIASCO

[robtx100]

Let me begin by stating that I am an avid cruiser on several different cruise lines. I usually pick a date to sail, find a cabin that will suit our needs, call the TA or online booking, and go on the cruise. All past cruises have not been "perfect", but not much to complain about. 

 

But this switch from Liberty to Independence has been a clown show. I could think of other terms to use, but don't want to be banned from CC. We were informed by email from RCL via our agent of the switch on 6/5. The email stated the switch would occur by 6/8. It did not, but new bookings opened for sale on 6/8. We were then told via phone that RCL said not to worry, all changes would happen before 6/18.  The switch did not happen and our booking still shows "voyage canceled". Now, we're being told we should receive our new cabin assignment by AUGUST 13th. I first focused on that date for a moment. That is less than 30 days prior to our sail date. 

 

Then I ran back in my head what I was told. CABIN ASSIGNMENT? ? ? The cabin I originally chose showed available on 6/8, then was gone by 6/10. So I believe they allowed a new booking to take my cabin. If my cabin was removed from inventory for the switch, then why does my booking still show "voyage canceled"? 

 

I used a future cruise credit from a canceled cruise as partial payment. RCL F'd that up and didn't use the full credit, so I had to pay more out of pocket and they re-issued a new FCC for the amount I paid out of pocket. LOL> No problem, I will spend it on a cruise sometime next year. 

I have a paid in full cruise that I cannot purchase the drink packages, I cannot book excursions, I cannot book specialty dining, I do not know if the cabin they assign me will be the cabin I chose when I booked, I do not know if the dining time I chose for regular dining will still be available when they decide to do the switch. I feel as they RCL has 1 person (their slowest employee) doing these switches. I mean, for Pete's sake, assign some more people to this project. 

 

I know I will be bashed by some RCL cheerleaders for criticizing RCL, but this has really been the poorest customer service from any cruise line I have ever dealt with. I have been patient with two canceled cruises, but I'm quickly losing faith in RCL's ability to make this switch. In the meantime, while I'm waiting for AUGUST 13th, I will just be thankful for good health, and hopeful that I MAY soon be on a cruise. 

Thanks for letting me vent. Anyone who responds that this is not RCL's fault, prepare for my wrath!!! LOL

[trafaelwyr]

You couldn't be more right about this.  I've already posted in two or three other threads about my current dealings with them for my 8/29 cruise that I booked back in September of last year.  I guess they didn't think things through as I'd think that they would do a lateral move for everyone booked on the 8/29 Liberty to the Indy since they are identical ships in terms of cabin numbering.  It's that simple.  If they have to have rooms blocked off, then at least try to get the person near their original room on the same deck.  If you can't get them on the same deck, then still try to give them the cabin directly above the one they'd booked or in the same area.  They should have taken care of those people first and then worried about booking others who didn't book early.

 

I've enjoyed both times I've sailed with RCL, but they really dropped the ball on this one with the ship change.  I and the two other people in my party never received an email about the changes - I found it all out on here.  At least the two other people traveling with me will be on the same deck as their original cabin on Liberty, but their balcony cabin is now on the right side of the ship near the middle.  My original cabin on Liberty was at the front near their cabin, but now I'm on deck 9 all the way at the back.  I'm (well, my sister is) still dealing with this situation and although they've both conceded to remain in the cabin they've been given, I'd like to try and either get closer to the front of the ship or an upgrade for their poor handling of this situation.

[Ocean Boy]

How hard could it have been to block off all the rooms on Indy that were booked on Liberty? Sometimes I just don't get the disconnect between shore side service and the product delivered in the ships.

[Jingerwoppy]

In my opinion, RCI's IT department and management seem to be lacking in several areas. Their phone app for android is still only getting 3.8 stars and it's been out a while. I tried it once and ended up uninstalling it because it never worked correctly (there website has also been hit and miss at times).  Add to this all of the issues like you've mentioned and it's pretty messed up. I know some will say that this is an unprecedented time and it is to a certain degree but the problem is that it's exacerbated some issues that existed prior to Covid. 

 

I'm just glad a lot of people are scheduling all of these cruises. Once I see that things have calmed down some, my wife and I will cruise again. However, I'm not scheduling anything until I see a significant decrease in the number of complaints. I don't currently have the time or temperament to work through these issues, even with a TA.

[bgooding12]

I've voiced similar frustrations on other threads as well. I finally got my reservation for an 8/15 cruise switched over on Monday (a birthday present, if you will). Amazingly they didn't screw up my cabin category, but I am now on the opposite side....not a huge deal since there are only 2 of the cabins on the ship right next to each other. I called repeatedly, which wasn't really welcomed as I booked through a TA. However, my TA was good about bugging them when I inquired about the status. There seems to be absolutely no rhyme or reason as to how this is being managed. Haven't been on RCL in a while, but when booking onboard on Celebrity their system looked pretty obsolete...so my best guess as to why this is such a cluster is that they're using an obsolete system which requires a lot of manual work and they didn't have a system on how best to approach it. Hope you get it sorted out soon, and I totally understand the frustration and need to vent!

[ReneeFLL]

Our cross over from Indy to Odyssey went smoothly. Many others haven’t. From what you are describing if they gave your cabin to someone else I think they should upgrade you to something better that you like. Royal has had many issues and unfortunately this was even before covid. Hope it all gets worked out for you. 
 

Have you tried contacting Micheal Bayley’s office? I don’t have the email, but I know others do. People have gotten results emailing him.

[robtx100]

43 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

Our cross over from Indy to Odyssey went smoothly. Many others haven’t. From what you are describing if they gave your cabin to someone else I think they should upgrade you to something better that you like. Royal has had many issues and unfortunately this was even before covid. Hope it all gets worked out for you. 
 

Have you tried contacting Micheal Bayley’s office? I don’t have the email, but I know others do. People have gotten results emailing him.

 

I did try contacting the executive office. I got a canned response. I worked on executive office complaints in a previous job, so I now a canned response when I see one. 

Hello Robert,

 

Thank you for your recent e-mail. Please accept my apology for not responding sooner.

 

I  am sorry for any concern regarding the sail date change for your reservation I******, . We are still working on moving our guests’ reservations to their new sailing. At the moment, there have not been any issues as far as not being able to process the move. In the meantime, we appreciate your patience as we do our best to work as quickly as possible to process these changes.

 

Robert, thank you for your time. We look forward to welcoming you onboard soon.

 

Sincerely,

[L454S]

You're not alone....RCI did the same to us and many more on a Vision OTS T/A just prior to covid.

 

They had a word for it...."redeploy"????? They cut out 2 days and changed the departure port to the new Barcelona departure point. Got an email saying that we were good till a certain date....they started selling the whole ship over again weeks prior to that date.

 

Our cabins were all gone.

 

 

[robtx100]

A quick update. My reservation has been switched to Independence. We didn't get the convenient Hump cabin, but they did switch us from a 2D hump on 6 to a 4B spacious ocean view on 7. I'm assuming 2D to 4B is an upgrade? At this point, can't be too picky. 

[Biker19]

45 minutes ago, robtx100 said:

I'm assuming 2D to 4B is an upgrade?

Correct. The earlier letter (and lower number with a category), the higher category, at least in RCI's view.

[leo72976]

Blast them on Twitter!  I had a problem and posted on Twitter and they fixed it in 20 minutes.  Cruisecritic is a great place to talk things over but Twitter is more powerful.  They hate when the public reads they are doing bad.

[robtx100]

55 minutes ago, Biker19 said:

Correct. The earlier letter (and lower number with a category), the higher category, at least in RCI's view.

 

I got a higher number, but lower letter. So lateral move? Upgrade? Downgrade? I'm just going to take it and move on with my life now. 🙂 

[lovescats5]

We had a similar experience when Allure was suppose to begin sailing from Galveston.  Had an A1 booked and they automatically booked us on Liberty in a GS, not quite the same room.  After an hour conference call with our TA and Royal they agreed it was not a fair switch and we were put on Symphony in an A1.  Considering the cost between Allure and Symphony is almost double, we were price protected, it was one of the best deals we have ever gotten.  But it took my time and effort, the TA was not that concerned.  Now we have a new TA.

[Biker19]

59 minutes ago, robtx100 said:

 

I got a higher number, but lower letter. So lateral move? Upgrade? Downgrade?  

The letter takes precedence over numbers. B is a higher  category than D.

[wolfcathorse]

3 hours ago, robtx100 said:

A quick update. My reservation has been switched to Independence. We didn't get the convenient Hump cabin, but they did switch us from a 2D hump on 6 to a 4B spacious ocean view on 7. I'm assuming 2D to 4B is an upgrade? At this point, can't be too picky. 

Hump cabin as in you had a balcony and now you only have an oceanview?

[robtx100]

2 hours ago, wolfcathorse said:

Hump cabin as in you had a balcony and now you only have an oceanview?

 

We were originally booked in a 2D Hump balcony cabin on deck 6. With the switch, they moved us to a 4B balcony on deck 7. We had booked the hump cabin to be near the stairs and elevator. The newly assigned cabin is on the opposite side about 3/4 down the corridor toward the aft. And it will be fine. 

[Tree_skier]

6 minutes ago, robtx100 said:

 

We were originally booked in a 2D Hump balcony cabin on deck 6. With the switch, they moved us to a 4B balcony on deck 7. We had booked the hump cabin to be near the stairs and elevator. The newly assigned cabin is on the opposite side about 3/4 down the corridor toward the aft. And it will be fine. 

Definitely an upgrade... Congratulations.

[OSUZorba]

54 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Definitely an upgrade... Congratulations.

Depends on your point of view. That would be a massive downgrade for me.

 

I'd look at available cabins and see if you could get moved back to the hump or at least forward of the hump. On Indy aft of the hump the MDR sticks out blocking your view down and the hump blocks your view forward, so if you enjoy watching the water against the ship it isn't possible. Plus I like being near the stairs.